A Massachusetts State Police sergeant will be on desk duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation over his unauthorized release of photos showing the hunt and capture of one of the Boston bombing suspects.

Boston magazine published the images Thursday, along with a story quoting Sgt. Sean Murphy.

The sergeant said that a recent cover on Rolling Stone was "an insult" to the victims of the April terror attack because, in his view, it didn't portray Dzhokhar Tsarnaev the right way.

Murphy was "furious" with the Rolling Stone cover photo of Tsarnaev, the Boston magazine story said, so the sergeant, a tactical photographer, provided the publication with grittier pictures from the harrowing hours after the bombing. These included an image of Tsarnaev during his capture with his face buried in his arm and what appears to be a red laser trained from afar on his head.

Hours after the Boston magazine story appeared online, Murphy was relieved of duty with pay for a day, and State Police spokesman David Procopio told reporters that a hearing Tuesday before three state police commissioned officers would determine the sergeant's status.

Photos:Boston bombings: The week in photos

Photos:Boston bombings: The week in photos

The second of two explosions goes off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Three people were killed and at least 264 were injured in the double bombings.

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Photos:Boston bombings: The week in photos

A man comforts a victim at the scene of the first explosion.

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Runners react near Kenmore Square after the explosions.

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Rescue workers tend to the wounded on the scene. First responders tried to save lives and limbs before transporting victims to hospitals.

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Photos:Boston bombings: The week in photos

On April 16, 2013, a vigil was held at Boston's Garvey Park for 8-year-old bombing victim Martin Richard. The other victims were Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager from Medford, Massachusetts, and Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old Chinese national attending graduate school at Boston University.

On April 17, 2013, a federal law enforcement source with firsthand knowledge of the investigation told CNN that a lid to a pressure cooker -- thought to have been used in the bombings -- had been found on a roof of a building near the scene. It was one of several pieces of evidence authorities found.

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Photos:Boston bombings: The week in photos

The device also had fragments such as nails, BBs and ball bearings, the FBI said.

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Photos:Boston bombings: The week in photos

On April 18, 2013, the FBI released photos and video of two suspects in the bombings and asked for the public's help in identifying them.

FBI Suspect No. 2, later said to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is apparently seen in this picture, far left in white cap. The photo was taken by Boston Marathon runner David Green at the scene of the bombings.

Late on the night of April 18, 2013, police responded to a call that a campus officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was shot and killed. Police said a man later reported being carjacked by the brothers. The two were stopped in Watertown, Massachusetts, where police said they threw explosives and shot at the officers. One man, assumed to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, drove off. The other, later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was injured. He died at the hospital.

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Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis speaks to the media on April 19, 2013, and explains that the city is on lockdown until the surviving suspect is found.

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Officers scoured Watertown, Massachusetts, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was last seen.

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Frightened residents were questioned near Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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SWAT teams conducted door-to-door searches in Watertown while looking for the suspect.

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Ruslan Tsarni, uncle of the Tsarnaev brothers, gave an interview April 19, 2013, outside his home in Montgomery Village, Maryland. He urged Tsarnaev to turn himself in.

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SWAT teams continue to search in Watertown on April 19, 2013.

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On the evening of April 19, 2013, a Watertown resident called the police and reported seeing a man on a boat in his backyard. Residents ran from the area where police said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was hiding on Franklin Street.

Police threw "flash-bangs" -- devices meant to stun people with a loud noise -- and started negotiations with Tsarnaev. He eventually surrendered and was transported to a local hospital in serious condition.

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People wave U.S. flags in Watertown after it was announced that Tsarnaev had been captured.

"I don't see Sgt. Murphy being terminated for this particular set of circumstances," he said.

A 25-year veteran of the state police, Murphy had worked most recently in the agency's public information office, covering many major operations, Alben said.

The sergeant has been an "exemplary" employee with no disciplinary record. "There no blemish there," Alben continued. "He's a man of character. He's a man of honor."

Alben said he had no reason to doubt that Murphy was "motivated by his own conscience and his own feelings about what occurred."

Kesten said that Murphy's actions would not affect the prosecution of Tsarnaev. "The guy was captured live on TV -- helicopter shots," the lawyer said.

But Alben was firm.

"If we get into a situation where we allow employees to cherry-pick and to choose what confidential information can be shared with the public or the media, impeding investigations or prosecutions, then we've lost integrity of the Massachusetts State Police," he said.

The sergeant's teenage son also stepped in front of microphones to tell reporters that he was fully behind his father.

"My dad's kind of always been a huge hero to me, and throughout this process he's shown the characteristics that I hope to some day model myself after," Connor Patrick Murphy said. "If I could be one-fourth the man he is now, then I could be happy with my life. Couldn't be prouder."

Different images and portrayals

The Rolling Stone cover showed Tsarnaev with tousled hair and a peaceful-looking face.

"If the powers that be do the right thing, they'll give Sgt. Murphy a medal, a long weekend off with pay, a new camera, and an apology," Richard C. Martin posted on the Facebook page. His comment alone garnered 160 likes.

"I support Sgt. Murphy for standing up for the victims," posted John W. Patterson, calling him "a true hero for doing what he thinks is right."

But there were a few people who understood why the trooper is in trouble.

Darin Vance,a16-year-old from West Virginia, posted, "I hate to see him lose his job, but what he did really was illegal; those pictures were not his, since he took them for his employer. Therefore, legally speaking, he stole the picture, and published it. I guess it depends how his contract was set up, but I think all copyrights would have been given over to the state."

Vance reiterated his support for the trooper to CNN on Monday and said he worried the Rolling Stone cover might inspire someone to commit an act of terror hoping to land on the front of a legendary magazine.

Page organizer surprised

On Monday, CNN reached a woman who said she was the organizer of the page but would only give a first name -- Lisa. She said she felt compelled to create the page because her father was a Massachusetts StatePolice trooper.

"I thought this page would only be popular among my friends, but I'm getting private messages from people across the country, in Germany and in England, all over, who believe this trooper did the right thing," she said. "I was so angry when I heard that Sgt. Murphy was going to suffer for trying to stand up for victims."

Before quoting Murphy in several long passages, Boston magazine wrote: "Here, in his own words, Murphy shares his thoughts on the Rolling Stone cover. He stresses that he is speaking strictly for himself and not as a representative of the Massachusetts State Police."

John Wolfson, Boston magazine's editor-in-chief, said the magazine has hundreds of photos similar to the ones Murphy provided and will publish more in its September issue.

He said Murphy was "conflicted on some level" about releasing the photos but "genuinely worried" about how the Rolling Stone cover will affect the victims' families.

The Rolling Stone cover unleashed a wave of intense reaction on social media that played out in brick-and-mortar stores. Three prominent New England-based businesses -- CVS pharmacies, Stop & Shopand Tedeschi Food Shops -- were among those that heard the public outcry and announced they would not sell the print edition of the magazine.

Some have defended the cover, arguing it draws much needed attention to a young man who seemed an unlikely terrorist. Rolling Stone issued a statement saying the story "falls within the traditions of journalism and Rolling Stone's long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage."

"The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers," the statement read, "makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens."

Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in connection with bombings and is awaiting trial. His brother Tamerlan, suspected to have helped carry out the attack, was killed during a gunbattle with police.